Animal food product



Aug. 12, 1930. c. BIRDSEYE ANIMAL FOOD PRODUCT I Filed June 20, 1927 I 2 2 4. 7 1 m m? M. F I Z, a /4" mmmwmzflzm //\/l/zf /V TOR: W @W ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 12, 1930 v bodied UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CLARENCE BIRDSEYE, OF GLOUCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOB, BY MEBNE AS- SIGN'MENTS, TO FROSTE-D FOODS COMPANY, INC., 0] DOVER, DELAWARE, A CORPORA- TION OF DELAWARE Application filed June 20,

tine qualities and flavorsof the food are retained and remain unimpaired for a substan-' tial period of time after the block has been thawed. A method and apparatus for preparing my improved product are described in application Serial No. 199,693, filed June 18, 1927, and application Serial No. filed July 6, 1928.

My invention has especial value when 'emin frozen blocks of fish or. meat, preferably raw.

In preparing a block of frozen animal food embodying my invention, I first compress the food into acompact block or slab, thereby consolidating it and freeing the mass of air as much as possible. the bacteria held in the frozen blockand the more rapidly, uniformly and efiicaciously the block may be frozen. Preferably the block to be frozen is encased in the wrapper or carton in which it is later marketed. It is an advantage to make the block thin because it is more readily frozen throughout its mass.

I next freeze the block so rapidly and at such low temperature that the cells of the animal tissue are substantially unbroken, whereby the pristine qualities and flavors are retained and persist for a substantial timeafter thawing. Indeed, on thawing, my food product returns substantially to its original condition as if it had never been frozen.

I have obtained excellent results by packing and compressing the food in a carton,

the mass being about two inches thick, thus producing a consolidated block comparatively free of air, and squeezing the block between-metal plates which are maintained at a temperature of 20 to 40 below 0 F. A

. block of this thickness subjected to this temperature will be completely frozen in about one and a quarter hours. By squeezing the block between these metal plates the block is further compacted and is simultaneously The less the air, the. less ANIMAL FOOD PRODUCT 1927. Serial Km 200,047.

frozen so quickly that the cells of the animal tissue are substantially unbroken. The thinner the block, the more rapid the freezing, and the temperature may be adjusted in accordance with the thickness of the block. When the food is frozen in the original package, it is ready for marketing as soon as it is frozen.

My invention constitutes a novel departure in animal food products, .and, so far as I am aware, has resulted in the marketing for the first time of frozen blocks of fish and meat, preferably in the package in which they are frozen, which, while frozen, can be stored for a long period of time, and transported and marketed at a distance, and then, after being thawed, reassume their original condition as before freezing, in that the natural qualities, moisture or flavors of the original food are retained, and desiccation and decay will not proceed substantially any more rapidly than in the original food.

'In the drawings, I show a preferred embodiment of my invention, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a package in which my food product has been frozen;

Figure 2 is a horizontal, cross-sectional view of said package, immediately beneath the cover;

Figures 3-and 4 are sectional views on lines 3-3 and 4-4 respectively, of Figure 2; and

Figure 5 is a perspective view of an open and sectional portion of another package, containing meat ready for freezing.

As a preferred method of preparing my .new product, I preferably pack the food 1n a suitable container, such as the cardboard carton 1, which may be and is preferably waxed or otherwise rendered resistive to the passage or absorption of moisture. For further protection, the said container should preferably be lined with, o; the contents wrapped in an appropriate waxed paper or other moisture proof material 2. I have attained satisfactory results by the use of a parafiined vegetable parchment paper, which indicated in With the container standing open, a layer of the food product is placed in the bottom thereof. If the food product, for instance, isfishfillets,asindicatedin res2to4, the fish, either as a sintgle fillet, if of suitable size, or a plurality o fillets if required, is laid into said container. I have endeavored to illustrate in 2 to 4 of the drawings, fish fillets 3 in said container, in which the first layer may be ac rated from the next layer by a moisture rbent separator or filler 4, and so on for the several layers which the container will accommodate.

The fillets 3 are of the usual irregular shapes when inserted in the container, and

'the parts which are too wide to go into the container flat may be crumpled, folded or squeezed to t them in, endeavorin so far as practicab e to press the extra widt of the fish toward the part of the container where the fish is not so wide. After the several layers and separators are inserted, the moisture pro'of lining or protective material 2 is laid over the top and the cover-closed. Sufiicient pressure to properly close the container and'a't the contents and tend to parts of the food product into the areas not .so well filled. As aresult ofthis pressure, the separators ma be more or less distorted, as igures 3 and 4, but still define the layers, keeping them distinct, separable units Referring to Flgure' 5, there are shown layers of meat chops 5, ed close together to avoid air spaces. arrangement is furthermore such, that the bones of the chops in the lower row will preferably underlie the meat portions of the row above, and so on, so that when .p is applied to the ackage,.the contents can give, thereb ena ling the contents to be substantially at against the top and the bottom of the container. In

' this instance, also, the'container is provided with the protective 2, which is closed over the to of the P not when the container is ed, after which the cover of the container is closed. If desired, each chop .can be wrapped in such a protective wrappin In the same manner, such products as stea chick I: and Hamburger steak can be similarly Of course, if the product is one such as Hamburger steak, ackin in layers may be disregarded, althoug fillers may, if desired, be used to form separable units. By filling the carton as completely as possible with the food product, I insure intimacy of contact between the various layers or (pieces of food, and between the container an the food, and a minimum of air pockets, so that there may be uniform and rapid heat transference throughout the mass and'outward through the container itself.

After erforming the steps as above outlined, u as the product is to be marketed same time consolidate readthe thicker,

very soon after freezing, the container is wrap d, as in a waxed or arafiined paper 6, an this wrapping is su stantially her metically sealed by use of hot plates or otherwise.

The desired productmay then be obtained by introducing the package into such a refrigerating apparatus as the one shown and described in m co-pending application, above identified, y which the filled package is squeezed between metal surfaces, which are maintained at a sufiiciently low temperature to rapidly freeze the food into the frozen block or slab heretofore described. By thus squeezing the packed 'carton between the metal surfaces, the food, which is comparatively yielding, will tend to fill any voids in the carton, and any unevenness in the contents of the carton is flattened out so that the roduct presents a substantially even flat surnice immediately 'uxtaposed against the sides of the carton. is insures a minimum of insulating air layers, and the package and foo pro uct will be directly and uniformly sub'ect to heat transference from the metal sur aces, which results in effective heat transthe guxta osed flattened surface area of the ference throughout the mass of the product.

There will therefore be uniform and complete freezing in the minimum length of time. The character of the package as above described retards an evaporation of the natural moisture of the food product and protects it against desiccation.

Also, in the course of freezing, the food product will expand, and it is desirable that this natural'expansion should, so far as possible, take place within the package itsel in order to further consolidate the block by increasing the intimacy of contact of the contents of the ackage, withresultin uniformity and rapidity of freezing, an to insure that the completely frozen package shall not be bulged or distorted, but shall be slight] and regular in shape. This desirable resu t is insured by holding the package during the freezing period between the metal surfaces which press on the package at top and bottom.

While I have illustrated and described-a preferred method, by which I prepare my new food product, Ido not desire to be limg ited to a product prepared by the method herein described, but intend to cover all products, however produced, which fall within the spirit and scope of m invention, as described in the following c aims.

I claim:

1. An article of manufacture,- comprising a marketable package containing frozen ani mal tissue which has been frozen in the package and which fills said package with a minimum of air voids, said package being substantially no eater in thickness than the same package efore having been frozen. the

Ill

Ill

contained animal tissue having in its frozen condition substantially the same cellular structure as it had before it was frozen and retaining its pristine qualities and flavors,

2. An article of manufacture, comprising a carton packed with frozen animal tissue which has been frozen therein; said carton being substantially hermetically sealed and having throughout the same undistorted 1o cross-sectional outline as before freezing, the contained animal tissue having in its frozen condition substantially the same cellular structure as it had before being frozen and retaining its pristine qualities and flavors. In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

CLARENCE BIRDSEYE. 

